Philip Glass

The Profile

Philip Glass (born 1937, Baltimore) is an American composer and key figure of musical minimalism. Founder of the Philip Glass Ensemble, he is known for operas (Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten), landmark concert works (Music in Twelve Parts, Glassworks) and film scores (Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima, Kundun, The Hours). He studied at Juilliard and with Nadia Boulanger; Indian rhythmic concepts via Ravi Shankar deeply influenced his style.

Glass’s music favors repetitive rhythmic cells, amplified keyboards, winds and voices; he often uses numbers and solfège syllables. Central to Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi Trilogy, he also wrote symphonies reimagining Bowie/Eno (Low, Heroes), collaborated with Allen Ginsberg (Hydrogen Jukebox) and Ravi Shankar, and scored films including The Thin Blue Line, The Truman Show, Dracula and The Hours.

Seven reviews chart Philip Glass’s minimalist surge from Music in Twelve Parts to the stage-shaking Einstein on the Beach and the image-fusing Qatsi scores. The critics highlight rhythmic cells, amplified ensembles, and film music that carries the drama. They touch Bowie/Eno symphonies and darker lyricism in The Hours. Overall tone: admiring and enthusiastic.